ARCADIA, Calif. – Shortly after Game Winner finished off a sharp drill on Saturday morning here at Santa Anita, his work coming a little more than an hour after Roadster also worked impressively, their trainer, Bob Baffert, turned to his wife, Jill, and said, "I'm having a good day, honey."

Then he did a jig. He's dancing his way to the Kentucky Derby.

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – On May 4, trainer Todd Pletcher will have to beat 18 other 3-year-olds with Cutting Humor and Spinoff to win the Kentucky Derby. On Friday morning, he only needed them to beat Mother Nature, a feat the two Derby contenders narrowly pulled off when getting in important five-furlong works just as moderate to heavy rain began to fall over the Palm Beach Downs training center shortly before dawn.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – With the countdown toward Kentucky Derby day relentlessly ticking on, and poor weather looming on the radar, War of Will was one of the first horses on the track Friday morning at Keeneland to work a sharp five furlongs in company in 1:00.20.

Blaine Wright could have been forgiven if his mind had been 2,000 miles away in Kentucky, where his headline horse, Anothertwistafate, was in peaceful repose at Churchill Downs.

The Japan Racing Association will offer separate-pool wagering on the Kentucky Derby this year, provided that Master Fencer, a Japanese-bred colt, is entered in the race, officials of Churchill Downs said on Wednesday.

The decision by Mike Smith and his agent, Brad Pegram, to ride Omaha Beach in the Kentucky Derby instead of their other enticing choice Roadster was reached on Tuesday, three days after Omaha Beach won the Arkansas Derby.

Smith’s decision unleashed a domino effect, including Florent Geroux picking up the mount on Roadster. But to even get to that point, a series of events took place, some of Smith’s choosing, many not, that would be a case study for chaos theory, how random events can yield unpredictable, unforeseen results.

Roadster
Quality Road - Ghost Dancing, by Silver Ghost
Bred in Kentucky by Stone Farm ($525,000 purchase by Speedway Stables at Keeneland September yearling sale)

WHO’S HOT

Mike Smith has chosen to ride Omaha Beach in the Kentucky Derby, trainer Richard Mandella announced Tuesday afternoon.

"I just got the call," Mandella said. "We're good. Mike Smith. I'm very happy."

Smith had ridden Omaha Beach to victory in the Arkansas Derby last Saturday at Oaklawn Park. Seven days earlier, Smith had ridden Bob Baffert-trained Roadster to victory in the Santa Anita Derby. Those two colts are among the top two in this year's Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs, so the choice was a difficult one for Smith and his agent, Brad Pegram.

Churchill Downs plans to offer as many as six head-to-head matchups on both the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks cards this year, as well as offer a pick six combining the six Grade 1 races on both cards, officials said on Tuesday.